Computer programs, secret management methods and systems

ABSTRACT

There is provided a computer program which, when executed by a processor of an information processing device, causes the processor to function as a secret splitting module and a control module. The secret splitting module is configured to recover secret data from at least two pieces of split data using secret splitting and the control module is configured to control reading out or writing each piece of the split data. Secret data is maintained within a virtual drive. The control module is further configured to read out first split meta-data from a first storage device, read out second split meta-data from a second storage device, cause the secret splitting module to recover virtual drive meta-data at least from the first and second split meta-data, and generate the virtual drive based on the recovered virtual drive meta-data. Corresponding method and system are also provided.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Priority PatentApplication JP 2016-004818 filed on Jan. 13, 2016, and Japanese PriorityPatent Application JP 2016-117998 filed on Jun. 14, 2016, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to computer programs, secret managementmethods and systems.

In recent years, there has been frequent leakage of information managedby corporations, public offices, educational institutions, or otherorganizations. It is one of the causes that there have been nosufficient mechanisms against illegal access to information or nosufficient mechanisms of preventing users from carelessly leakinginformation in spite of the fact that the development of informationcommunication technologies made it easier to access information andincreased information portability. Not only organizations such ascorporations, but individuals are also at risk of information leakage.

The most popular technology of protecting information from securityrisks is encryption using passwords. Simply encrypting informationcannot, however, eliminate the risks of information leakage caused bycracking passwords or encryption keys, or social hacking. It is noteither realistic to expect all the end users to strictly manage theirpasswords. Accordingly, it is the Secret Splitting method (also referredto as Secret Sharing method) that has attracted attention in recentyears. According to the Secret Splitting, information is split into aplurality of fragments so as to make it impossible to recover theoriginal information unless a certain number of fragments or more areput together.

JP 2008-139996A proposes a system that uses the secret splitting toprevent information leakage. The information leakage prevention systemproposed by JP2008-139996A generates a virtual application image filefrom an execution file, a driver, and data of an application (AP) usedat an information terminal, and splits the virtual AP image file intotwo or more share files. One of the share files is stored by a mobileterminal that is different from the information terminal. The share filestored by the information terminal can be erased in response to aninstruction from a management server when the management server isnotified that the information terminal has been lost or stolen.

SUMMARY

The system proposed by JP 2008-139996A, however, applies the secretsplitting per the virtual AP image file containing all the files anddata related to one or more applications. The virtual AP image file istriggered by a shutdown of the information terminal to be split into aplurality of share files. No file or data is protected until this secretsplitting triggered by the shutdown is completed. The virtual AP imagefile that has been split into a plurality of share files is recovered bya user activating a dedicated application on the information terminal,and stored into a secondary storage device again. For example, when amalicious third person illegally intrudes into the information terminalbefore the user notices it, the secret information in a virtual AP imagefile can be relatively easily read out. When the information terminal isstolen before being shut down, it would be inevitable that the secretinformation leaks. In the system proposed by JP 2008-139996A, as moreapplications are covered by the virtual AP image file(s), moreinformation is protected. Increase in applications covered by thevirtual AP image file(s), however, increases delay in secret splittingprocessing, and decreases usability. Information on applications whichis not covered by the virtual AP image file(s) is not protected.

The technology according to the present disclosure provides a mechanismthat eliminates or at least alleviates one or more of theabove-described defects in the existing technologies.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided acomputer program which, when executed by a processor of an informationprocessing device, causes the processor to function as: a secretsplitting module configured to recover secret data by combining at leasttwo pieces of split data out of a plurality of pieces of split data thathave been formed by splitting the secret data using secret splitting;and a control module configured to control reading out or writing eachpiece of the plurality of pieces of split data from or into a data areaof a corresponding storage device. The control module is furtherconfigured to maintain the secret data within a virtual drive, virtualdrive meta-data for generating the virtual drive being split at leastinto first split meta-data and second split meta-data. The controlmodule is further configured to: read out the first split meta-data froma first storage device, the first storage device being an externalstorage device; read out the second split meta-data from a secondstorage device that is different from the first storage device; causethe secret splitting module to recover the virtual drive meta-data atleast from the first split meta-data and the second split meta-data; andgenerate the virtual drive based on the recovered virtual drivemeta-data.

The control module may be further configured to maintain the secret datawithin the virtual drive as a file image stored only in a volatilememory.

The control module may be further configured to read out the first splitmeta-data from a first storage device in response to detecting aconnection of the first storage device to the information processingdevice.

The control module may be further configured to disable the virtualdrive when a request for unmounting the virtual drive is detected.

The control module may be further configured to disable the virtualdrive when a disconnection of the first storage device from theinformation processing device is detected.

The control module may be further configured to: generate the virtualdrive by registering a setting of the virtual drive onto a file systemof the information processing device; and disable the virtual drive byerasing the setting of the virtual drive that was registered onto thefile system.

The control module may be further configured to: when activation of afile within the virtual drive is requested, read out at least a firstsplit file and a second split file out of a plurality of split filesrespectively from the first storage device and the second storage devicewherein the plurality of split files have been formed by splitting afile image of the file to be activated using secret splitting; and causethe secret splitting module to recover the file image of the file to beactivated at least from the first split file and the second split file.

File meta-data of a file within the virtual drive may be split at leastinto first split file meta-data and second split file meta-data. Thecontrol module may be further configured to: read out the first splitfile meta-data from the first storage device; read out the second splitfile meta-data from the second storage device; and cause the secretsplitting module to recover the file meta-data at least from the firstsplit file meta-data and the second split file meta-data therebyenabling an indication related to the file within the virtual drive tobe displayed.

The activation of the file within the virtual drive may be requested bya user input toward the indication related to the file displayed basedon the recovered file meta-data.

The control module may be further configured to, when saving a filewithin the virtual drive is requested, cause the secret splitting moduleto split a file image of the file to be saved at least into a thirdsplit file and a fourth split file using secret splitting. The thirdsplit file may be to be written into the first storage device and thefourth split file may be to be written into the second storage device.

The control module may be further configured to, in response todetection of the request for file saving, write the third split fileinto the first storage device and write the fourth split file into thesecond storage device.

The control module may be further configured to: maintain, in thevolatile memory, the third split file formed in response to detection ofthe request for file saving; and, in response to detection of a requestfor unmount of the virtual drive, write the third split file into thefirst storage device.

The virtual drive may be generated by registering a setting of thevirtual drive onto a file system of the information processing deviceand the control module may be further configured to detect the requestfor file saving via the file system.

The secret splitting module may be further configured to: encrypt thesecret data by the All or Nothing Transform (AONT) scheme beforesplitting the secret data; and recover the secret data by decryptingcombined data based on the at least two pieces of split data by the AONTscheme to obtain the secret data.

According to another aspect, there is provided a secret managementmethod performed in an information processing device using secretsplitting, the secret splitting being capable of forming a plurality ofpieces of split data by splitting secret data, and recovering the secretdata by combining at least two pieces of split data out of the pluralityof pieces of split data. The secret management method includes: readingout first split meta-data from a first storage device, the first storagedevice being an external storage device; reading out second splitmeta-data from a second storage device that is different from the firststorage device, the first split meta-data and the second split meta-databeing data that have been formed by splitting virtual drive meta-datafor generating a virtual drive within which the secret data isconfigured to be maintained; recovering the virtual drive meta-data atleast from the first split meta-data and the second split meta-datausing secret splitting; and generating the virtual drive based on therecovered virtual drive meta-data.

According to another aspect, there is provided an information processingsystem including: a secret splitting module configured to recover secretdata by combining at least two pieces of split data out of a pluralityof pieces of split data that have been formed by splitting the secretdata using secret splitting; and a control module configured to controlreading out or writing each piece of the plurality of pieces of splitdata from or into a data area of a corresponding storage device. Thecontrol module is further configured to maintain the secret data withina virtual drive, virtual drive meta-data for generating the virtualdrive being split at least into first split meta-data and second splitmeta-data. The control module is further configured to: read out thefirst split meta-data from a first storage device, the first storagedevice being an external storage device; read out the second splitmeta-data from a second storage device that is different from the firststorage device; cause the secret splitting module to recover the virtualdrive meta-data at least from the first split meta-data and the secondsplit meta-data; and generate the virtual drive based on the recoveredvirtual drive meta-data.

According to another aspect, there is provided a computer program which,when executed by a processor of an information processing device, causesthe processor to function as: a secret splitting module configured toform a plurality of pieces of split data by splitting secret data usingsecret splitting; and a control module configured to control writingeach piece of the plurality of pieces of split data into a data area ofa corresponding storage device. Data recovered by combining at least twopieces of split data out of the plurality of pieces of split data ismaintained within a virtual drive on a device that has recovered thedata. The control module is further configured to: cause the secretsplitting module to split virtual drive meta-data for generating thevirtual drive at least into first split meta-data and second splitmeta-data; write the first split meta-data into a first storage device,the first storage device being an external storage device; and write thesecond split meta-data into a second storage device that is differentfrom the first storage device.

The control module may be further configured to: cause the secretsplitting module to split a file image of a file to be recovered withinthe virtual drive at least into a first split file and a second splitfile; write the first split file into the first storage device; andwrite the second split file into the second storage device.

The control module may be further configured to: cause the secretsplitting module to split file meta-data of the file to be recoveredwithin the virtual drive at least into first split file meta-data andsecond split file meta-data; write the first split file meta-data intothe first storage device; and write the second split file meta-data intothe second storage device. The file meta-data may be used for displayingan indication related to the file within the virtual drive.

According to another aspect, there is provided a secret managementmethod performed in an information processing device using secretsplitting, the secret splitting being capable of forming a plurality ofpieces of split data by splitting secret data, and recovering the secretdata by combining at least two pieces of split data out of the pluralityof pieces of split data, the secret management method including:splitting virtual drive meta-data for generating a virtual drive atleast into first split meta-data and second split meta-data using secretsplitting, the virtual drive being configured to maintain data recoveredby combining the at least two pieces of split data out of the pluralityof pieces of split data; writing the first split meta-data into a firststorage device, the first storage device being an external storagedevice; and writing the second split meta-data into a second storagedevice that is different from the first storage device.

According to another aspect, there is provided an information processingsystem including: a secret splitting module configured to form aplurality of pieces of split data by splitting secret data using secretsplitting; and a control module configured to control writing each pieceof the plurality of pieces of split data into a data area of acorresponding storage device. Data recovered by combining at least twopieces of split data out of the plurality of pieces of split data ismaintained within a virtual drive on a device that has recovered therecovery data. The control module is further configured to: cause thesecret splitting module to split virtual drive meta-data for generatingthe virtual drive at least into first split meta-data and second splitmeta-data; write the first split meta-data into a first storage device,the first storage device being an external storage device; and write thesecond split meta-data into a second storage device that is differentfrom the first storage device.

The technology according to the present disclosure can eliminate or atleast alleviate one or more of the above-described defects in theexisting technologies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates an overview of a system to which technologyaccording to the present disclosure can be applied;

FIG. 1B illustrates a first application example of a system to which thetechnology according to the present disclosure can be applied;

FIG. 1C illustrates a second application example of a system to whichthe technology according to the present disclosure can be applied;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of aninformation processing device according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a configuration of data that can bestored by a secondary storage device and an external storage device;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a logical functional configuration ofan information processing device according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of virtual drivegeneration processing for newly generating a virtual drive;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of filesplitting processing for splitting a file using secret splitting;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of virtual driverecovery processing for recovering a virtual drive;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a schematic data configuration of arecovered virtual drive;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of file recoveryprocessing for recovering a file using secret splitting;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a first modification of a flow offile splitting processing for splitting a file using secret splitting;and

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a second modification of a flow offile splitting processing for splitting a file using secret splitting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)

Hereinafter, (a) preferred embodiment(s) of the present disclosure willbe described in detail with reference to the appended drawings. In thisspecification and the appended drawings, structural elements that havesubstantially the same function and structure are denoted with the samereference numerals, and repeated explanation of these structuralelements is omitted.

-   -   Descriptions will now be made in the following order:

1. System Overview

-   -   (1) System configuration examples    -   (2) Meaning of terms

2. Device Configurations

-   -   (1) Hardware configuration example    -   (2) Data configuration example    -   (3) Functional configuration example

3. Flows of Processes

-   -   (1) Virtual drive generation    -   (2) File splitting    -   (3) Virtual drive recovery    -   (4) File recovery

4. Conclusion

5. Modifications

-   -   (1) File splitting—first modification    -   (2) File splitting—second modification    -   (3) Other modifications

1. SYSTEM OVERVIEW (1) System Configuration Examples

FIG. 1A illustrates an overview of a system to which technologyaccording to the present disclosure can be applied. With reference toFIG. 1A, a secret information management system 1 includes aninformation processing device 100 and an external storage device 400.

The information processing device 100 may be any type of informationterminal or electronic device such as a notebook personal computer (PC),a tablet PC, a desktop PC, a smartphone, a cellular phone, a navigationterminal, or a personal digital assistant (PDA). A user may handle datain various forms on the information processing device 100. Data handledon the information processing device 100 includes data that a user or anadministrator of the information processing device 100 desires to keepsecret (thus, it is referred to as secret data). Secret data may be datain any format such as text, document, communication message, image,video, audio, setting data, or executable file. The informationprocessing device 100 includes a main memory and a secondary storagedevice. The main memory is typically a volatile memory (such as a randomaccess memory (RAM)). The secondary storage device may be, for example,a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), which includes anonvolatile storage medium.

The external storage device 400 is a storage device that is connected tothe information processing device 100 via some connection interface ofthe information processing device 100. The external storage device 400includes a nonvolatile storage medium. The external storage device 400may be a peripheral device such as a universal serial bus (USB) memory,an integrated circuit (IC) card, a memory card (such as an SD card), oran external HDD, mainly for the purpose of storing information.Alternatively, the external storage device 400 may be a similar type ofinformation terminal or electronic device to the information processingdevice 100 such as a PC or a smartphone. Moreover, the external storagedevice 400 may also be a network device such as a network attachedstorage (NAS), a cloud server, or a data server, which can be accessedvia a network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). Theexternal storage device 400 may have a wired or wireless connection tothe information processing device 100. A connection interface of theinformation processing device 100 may be an interface in any form suchas a connection terminal, a connector that accepts a connection cable,or an antenna and a radio frequency (RF) front-end.

In some embodiments discussed below, secret data protected by thetechnology according to the present disclosure is split into N pieces ofsplit data (where N represents an integer greater than or equal to 2)using secret splitting. At least one of the N pieces of split data isthen written into the external storage device 400. Secret data iscreated, viewed, and updated within a virtual drive generated on theinformation processing device 100. Secret data is not present as anactual file stored by a nonvolatile memory, but is maintained as a fileimage stored only in a volatile memory (typically, main memory). Thevirtual drive is generated in a sate that the external storage device400 is connected to the information processing device 100, anddisappears in response to unmount of the virtual drive or thedisconnection of the external storage device 400. As an example, virtualdrive meta-data for generating the virtual drive is also split into aplurality of pieces of split meta-data using secret splitting, and atleast one of these pieces of split meta-data is written into theexternal storage device 400. This means that the virtual drive, whichprovides space for a user to handle secret data, is not generated unlessthe external storage device 400 is connected to the informationprocessing device 100, and that virtual drive itself is also protectedby secret splitting. For example, a conventional technique of splittingonly secret data using secret splitting does not protect data that isfirst being created and has not yet been split. If a user has tofrequently execute secret splitting processing while data is beingcreated, such an operation is troublesome to the user. In contrast,according to the embodiment described herein, the virtual drive thatprovides space for a user to handle secret data is protected by secretsplitting. In other words, as long as work is conducted using a virtualdrive as a workspace, data is protected from the beginning of the work.

Further, a conventional technique of splitting a comprehensive data setincluding a driver, data, and an execution file of an application as asingle image requires large-scale image data to be encrypted anddecrypted every time the application is handled, which causessignificant delay in processing. To reduce the size of image data,applications to be protected have to be decreased. In contrast,according to the embodiment described herein, data within the virtualdrive can be handled by any type of application. Meta-data and a filewithin the virtual drive can be separately processed, resulting in onlya slight delay in processing.

Furthermore, a technique of splitting only data related to a specificapplication or a specific type of data using secret splitting requires auser or a system administrator to appropriately set up protectiontargets in advance. In the event that such protection targets areinappropriately set up or no protection targets are set up, secret datathat should be protected will be at risk of leakage. In reality, usersare often unwilling to conduct even easy work such as setting orupdating a password, and the load imposed on the users for the purposeof security is thus desirably as light as possible. In this regard,according to the embodiment described herein, a user is allowed to usethe virtual drive through an intuitive action of connecting the externalstorage device 400 to the information processing device 100. Once thevirtual drive is generated, the user can then handle secret data withinthe virtual drive like conducting normal work in a data area on atypical information terminal. Furthermore, the user can unable a thirdperson to access to the secret data simply by disconnecting the externalstorage device 400 from the information processing device 100 afterfinishing the work. This is contrastive to a conventional technique inwhich shutting down an information terminal triggers to execute thesecret splitting processing and to delete secret data on a disk as theconventional technique cannot sufficiently eliminate the risks ofinformation leakage caused by illegal intrusion on the informationterminal or theft of the information terminal (remotely deleting dataafterward might possibly be too late to prevent information leakage).

FIG. 1B illustrates a first application example of a system to which thetechnology according to the present disclosure can be applied. While thesecret information management system 1 in the example of FIG. 1Aincludes only a single external storage device 400, the secretinformation management system 1 a in the first application exampleillustrated in FIG. 1B includes two external storage devices 400 a and400 b in addition to an information processing device 100 a. Forexample, the external storage device 400 a is a USB memory that can bedirectly connected to the information processing device 100 a. Theexternal storage device 400 b is a data server that can be connected tothe information processing device 100 a via a wireless communicationinterface. At least one of pieces of data split from secret data by theinformation processing device 100 a using secret splitting can bewritten into the external storage device 400 a. At least another one ofthe pieces of split data can be written into the external storage device400 b. A secondary storage device of the information processing device100 a may store one or more of the pieces of split data, or it is alsopossible for the secondary storage device of the information processingdevice 100 a to store none of the pieces of split data.

FIG. 1C illustrates a second application example of a system to whichthe technology according to the present disclosure can be applied. Thesecret information management system 1 b in the second applicationexample illustrated in FIG. 1C includes two external storage devices 400a and 400 c in addition to an information processing device 100 b. Theexternal storage device 400 c is a terminal device that can be carriedor worn by a user. At least one of pieces of data split from secret databy the information processing device 100 b using secret splitting can bewritten into the external storage device 400 a. At least another one ofthe pieces of split data can be written into the external storage device400 c. A secondary storage device of the information processing device100 b may store one or more of the pieces of split data, or it is alsopossible for the secondary storage device of the information processingdevice 100 b to store none of the pieces of split data.

As understood from these application examples, secret data may be splitinto any number of pieces of split data using secret splitting in thetechnology according to the present disclosure. These pieces of splitdata are written at least into two storage devices that are physicallydifferent, and the storage devices may include any type of device thatis connectable in any connection form. Computer programs executed at theinformation processing device, which will be described in detail later,do not necessarily have to be stored in advance in an internal medium(non-transitory computer-readable medium) of the information processingdevice.

For example, such computer programs may be downloaded or called from anexternal server such as the external storage device 400 b when executed.It should be noted that the secret information management systems 1, 1a, and 1 b will be herein generically referred to as secret informationmanagement system 1 with the alphabets at the ends of the referencesigns omitted. Similarly, the information processing devices 100, 100 a,and 100 b will be generically referred to as information processingdevice 100, and the external storage devices 400, 400 a, 400 b, and 400c will be generically referred to as external storage device 400. Inmany examples below, descriptions will be made assuming that secret datais split into two pieces of split data using secret splitting in theinterest of brevity. These do not, however, limit the scope of thetechnology according to the present disclosure.

(2) Meaning of Terms

The following describes typical meanings of main terms used herein.

a) Secret Splitting (Also Referred to as Secret Sharing)

Secret splitting is the technology of transforming information desiredto be kept secret in a certain scheme, and splitting the transformedinformation into a plurality of fragments (also referred to as shares).Appropriately selecting an information transform scheme eliminates thepossibility of inferring the original information from the individualfragments. Recovering the original information requires to combine apredetermined number of fragments or more and storing these fragmentsinto physically different devices will thus provide protection againstsecurity risks that, for example, one of the devices is lost or stolen.A transform before splitting information into a plurality of fragments,and an inverse transform after the plurality of fragments are combinedare also referred to as encryption and decryption, respectively. One ofthe popular information transform schemes used for secret splitting isthe All Or Nothing Transform (AONT) scheme proposed by R. Rivest in1997. The AONT scheme has derivatives such as the AONT-cipher blockchaining (CBC) scheme and the AONT-optimal asymmetric encryption padding(OAEP) scheme. For example, the AONT-CBC scheme is suitable for fastencryption per small block basis. The AONT scheme can be used inembodimenst discussed below. The AONT scheme is well suitable forhandling information in an information terminal in that the AONT schemedoes not considerably change the amount of information before and aftera transform. However, the technology according to the present disclosureis also applicable to other information transform schemes such as thethreshold scheme.

b) Split Data

Split data is an individual fragment of data that has been formed bysplitting secret data using secret splitting. As discussed above, secretdata may be data in any format such as text, document, communicationmessage, image, video, audio, setting data, or executable file.

c) Virtual Drive

A virtual drive is a virtualized storage area (drive) that is notpresent as a physical entity, but appears to a user or an application tobe present. Secret data is maintained within a virtual drive inembodiments discussed below.

d) File Image

A file image is a representation of secret data within a virtual drive.The term “file image” is used, for example, to distinguish a file imagefrom a normal file that can be stored on a secondary storage device.Once a file image is split using secret splitting, split files areformed. The technology according to the present disclosure can handle,as file images to which secret splitting is applied, not only generalfiles handled by a user or an application, but also control filesimplicitly handled by the system (such as control files that defineshierarchical folder structure in a drive).

e) Virtual Drive Meta-Data

Virtual drive meta-data is meta-data that is used when a virtual driveis generated. As an example, virtual drive meta-data includes a drivename and drive size (capacity) of a virtual drive to be generated. Thedrive name of a virtual drive will be a part of a file path used when auser or an application accesses, for example, a file within the virtualdrive. The drive name may be, for example, a drive letter in the Windows(registered trademark) OS. Virtual drive meta-data may further includeother data such as creation date and time of the virtual drive, updatedate and time of the virtual drive, and the size of a used area on thevirtual drive. Split meta-data is data that has been formed by splittingvirtual drive meta-data using secret splitting.

f) File Meta-Data

File meta-data is meta-data indicating attributes of an individual file.As an example, file meta-data includes a file name, a file path, acreation date and time, an update date and time, and a file size. Splitfile meta-data is data that has been formed by splitting file meta-datausing secret splitting. In some embodiments discussed below, even if afile image is not recovered, it is allowed to display an indicationrelated to a file within the virtual drive on a screen, for example, viaa file system by recovering file meta-data from split file meta-data.

g) Split Drive

A split drive is an actual drive (or a data area on an actual drive)into which split data that may include a split file, split meta-data,split file meta-data, and the like is written. The storage area of asplit drive may consist at least of a meta-data area and a file dataarea. Split meta-data and split file meta-data are written into ameta-data area. A split file is written into a file data area. Eachsplit drive is assigned a split drive identifier for uniquelyidentifying each split drive. For example, the split drive identifiermay be obtained by concatenating a common character string sharedbetween corresponding split drives (drives into which pieces of splitdata split from the same secret data are written) and a suffix numberfor differentiating each of these split drives. These identifiers can beused, for example, for verifying correspondence between the splitdrives.

2. DEVICE CONFIGURATIONS (1) Hardware Configuration Example

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the hardware configuration of theinformation processing device 100 according to an embodiment. Withreference to FIG. 2, the information processing device 100 includes aprocessor 101, a main memory 102, a display 103, an input interface 104,a secondary storage device 105, and one or more connection interfaces106. The processor 101 may be, for example, a central processing unit(CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU). The processor 101 controls theoverall operation of the secret information management system 1 or theinformation processing device 100 by executing computer programs storedby, for example, the secondary storage device 105 or any other storagemedium. The main memory 102 may be a volatile memory such as a RAM. Thedisplay 103 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or anorganic light-emitting diode (OLED) display. The input interface 104 mayinclude, for example, a touch panel, a keypad, a keyboard, a pointingdevice, or the like, and is configured to receive a user input. Thesecondary storage device 105 may be, for example, an HDD or an SSD. Asan example, the secondary storage device 105 can be used as a splitdrive into which split data is written. The connection interface 106 mayinclude, for example, a USB interface, an IC card interface, a memorycard interface, a wired LAN interface, a wireless LAN interface, or acellular communication interface, depending on the type of externalstorage device 400 to be connected thereto.

(2) Data Configuration Example

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the configuration of data that can bestored by the secondary storage device 105 and the external storagedevice 400.

With reference to FIG. 3, the secondary storage device 105 stores acontrol module program 50 and a secret splitting module program 60. Thecontrol module program 50 and the secret splitting module program 60include sets of instructions for causing the processor 101 of theinformation processing device 100 to function as a control module 10 anda secret splitting module 30 (see FIG. 4), respectively. The controlmodule 10 is a module that controls reading out and/or writing eachpiece of a plurality of pieces of split data formed by the secretsplitting module 30 from and/or into a data area of a correspondingstorage device. The secret splitting module 30 is a module for forming aplurality of pieces of split data by splitting secret data using secretsplitting, and recovering the original data by combining at least twopieces of split data out of the plurality of pieces of split data underthe control of the control module 10.

Basic configuration information 75 is stored in the predefined storagearea of the external storage device 400. The basic configurationinformation 75 may include, for example, the number N of split drives, Nsplit drive paths, and a version of a secret splitting (secret sharing)algorithm. When the number of split drives is fixed (e.g. secret data isalways split into two pieces of split data), the number N of splitdrives may be omitted. For example, when N is equal to 2, a first splitdrive path indicates the path for the control module 10 to access afirst split drive 70 a, and a second split path indicates the path forthe control module 10 to access a second split drive 70 b.

The external storage device 400 further includes the first split drive70 a. The secondary storage device 105 further includes the second splitdrive 70 b. The first split drive 70 a of the external storage device400 stores a first split drive identifier 71 a, first split meta-data 80a, first split file meta-data 90 a, and a first split file 91 a. Thesecond split drive 70 b of the secondary storage device 105 stores asecond split drive identifier 71 b, second split meta-data 80 b, secondsplit file meta-data 90 b, and a second split file 91 b.

The first split drive identifier 71 a uniquely identifies the firstsplit drive 70 a out of a plurality of split drives. The second splitdrive identifier 71 b uniquely identifies the second split drive 70 bout of a plurality of split drives. The first split meta-data 80 a andthe second split meta-data 80 b are split data that has been formed bysplitting, using secret splitting, virtual drive meta-data forgenerating a virtual drive.

When a file to be protected is created and requested to be saved withina virtual drive, the first split file meta-data 90 a and the secondsplit file meta-data 90 b, and the first split file 91 a and the secondsplit file 91 b may be stored within the respective split drives. Thefirst split file meta-data 90 a and the second split file meta-data 90 bare split data that has been formed by splitting file meta-data of afile within a virtual drive using secret splitting. The first split file91 a and the second split file 91 b are split data that has been formedby splitting a file image of a file within a virtual drive using secretsplitting. Though FIG. 3 illustrates only a single set of split filemeta-data and a split file, several sets of split file meta-data andsplit files corresponding to the files within a virtual drive mayactually be stored.

(3) Functional Configuration Example

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the logical functional configuration ofthe information processing device 100 according to an embodiment. Itshould be noted that functions that are not directly related to thetechnology according to the present disclosure are not shown in FIG. 4.With reference to FIG. 4, the information processing device 100 includesthe above-described control module 10 and secret splitting module 30 aswell as a file system 40 and a user interface (UI) module 45.

The control module 10 has a drive setting function 11, a virtual drivemeta-data splitting function 12, a split drive cooperation function 13,an event monitoring function 14, a virtual drive meta-data recoveryfunction 15, a virtual drive management function 16, a file splittingfunction 17, and a file recovery function 18.

The drive setting function 11 is a function for acquiring setting dataof a virtual drive to be generated, and creating virtual drivemeta-data. The drive setting function 11 may cause the UI module 45 todisplay, for example, an interactive GUI on the screen of the display103, and acquire setting data input by a user or a system administratorusing the input interface 104. Alternatively, the drive setting function11 may acquire setting data by receiving a setting data file created byanother device in advance from an external data server. Similarly, thedrive setting function 11 may also acquire setting data for the basicconfiguration information 75, and the split drive identifiers 71 a and71 b.

The virtual drive meta-data splitting function 12 causes the secretsplitting module 30 to split virtual drive meta-data created by thedrive setting function 11 at least into the first split meta-data 80 aand the second split meta-data 80 b in accordance with the splitsettings (such as the number N of split drives, and the split size ofeach drive).

The split drive cooperation function 13 writes, when the first splitdrive 70 a is not present in the external storage device 400, the basicconfiguration information 75 into the predefined storage area of theexternal storage device 400, creates the data area of the first splitdrive 70 a, and writes the first split drive identifier 71 a into thefirst split drive 70 a. The split drive cooperation function 13 thenwrites the first split meta-data 80 a split from the virtual drivemeta-data into the first split drive 70 a. When the second split drive70 b is not present in the secondary storage device 105, the split drivecooperation function 13 creates the data area of the second split drive70 b in the secondary storage device 105, and writes the second splitdrive identifier 71 b into the second split drive 70 b. The split drivecooperation function 13 then writes the second split meta-data 80 bsplit from the virtual drive meta-data into the second split drive 70 b.

The event monitoring function 14 monitors and detects events that occurin the file system 40, the UI module 45, and the connection interfaces106. The events detected by the event monitoring function 14 mayinclude, for example, the followings:

-   -   file saving request;    -   unmount request of a virtual drive;    -   connection of the external storage device 400 to the information        processing device 100;    -   disconnection of the external storage device 400 from the        information processing device 100;    -   activation (i.e. open) of a virtual drive;    -   activation of a folder within a virtual drive; and    -   activation of a file within a virtual drive.        For example, when a user instructs a document editing        application to save an edited document file, the event        monitoring function 14 may detect a file saving request from the        document editing application via the file system 40.

After split meta-data is written into the corresponding storage device,and the external storage device 400 is disconnected from the informationprocessing device 100, the virtual drive meta-data recovery function 15reads out, in response to detection of an event, the first splitmeta-data 80 a from the first split drive 70 a through the split drivecooperation function 13. The virtual drive meta-data recovery function15 also reads out the corresponding second split meta-data 80 b from thesecond split drive 70 b through the split drive cooperation function 13.The virtual drive meta-data recovery function 15 then causes the secretsplitting module to recover the virtual drive meta-data at least fromthe first split meta-data 80 a and the second split meta-data 80 b. Anevent that triggers the recovery of the virtual drive meta-dataincludes, for example, connection of the external storage device 400,which stores the first split meta-data 80 a, to the informationprocessing device 100. Alternatively, the virtual drive meta-data may berecovered after a successful authentication of a user who is authorizedto access the virtual drive.

The virtual drive meta-data recovery function 15 may also verify thecorrespondence between split drives or pieces of split meta-data beforestarting the recovery of virtual drive meta-data. For example, thevirtual drive meta-data recovery function 15 can verify theabove-described correspondence by determining whether or not the splitdrive identifiers of the respective split drives include a certaincharacter string, and/or whether or not time stamps such as creationdates and time or update dates and time match with each other. When itis determined that the correspondence is incorrect, the virtual drivemeta-data recover function 15 may cancel the recovery of the virtualdrive meta-data.

The virtual drive management function 16 generates a virtual drive basedon the virtual drive meta-data recovered by the virtual drive meta-datarecovery function 15. The virtual drive management function 16 maygenerate a virtual drive, for example, by registering settings of thevirtual drive onto the file system 40. As an example, the virtual drivemanagement function 16 maintains secret data within the virtual drive asa file image stored only in a volatile memory (typically, the mainmemory 102). The secret data within the virtual drive herein may be anytype of data handled by a user within the virtual drive. The virtualdrive management function 16 disables the virtual drive when a requestfor unmounting the virtual drive is detected. When the disconnection ofthe external storage device 400 from the information processing device100 is detected, the virtual drive management function 16 also disablesthe virtual drive. The virtual drive management function 16 may disablea virtual drive, for example, by erasing the settings of the virtualdrive registered onto the file system 40. Once the virtual drive isdisabled in this way, a user or a third person cannot access data withinthe virtual drive.

The file splitting function 17 causes, when saving a file within avirtual drive is requested, the secret splitting module 30 to split thefile image of the file to be saved at least into the first split file 91a, and the second split file 91 b using secret splitting. The firstsplit file 91 a is written into the first split drive 70 a by the splitdrive cooperation function 13. The second split file 91 b is writteninto the second split drive 70 b by the split drive cooperation function13. In addition, the file splitting function 17 causes the secretsplitting module 30 to split the file meta-data of the file to be savedat least into the first split file meta-data 90 a and the second splitfile meta-data 90 b. The first split file meta-data 90 a is written intothe first split drive 70 a by the split drive cooperation function 13.The second split file meta-data 90 b is written into the second splitdrive 70 b by the split drive cooperation function 13. Such filemeta-data can be used for causing the UI module 45 to display anindication related to the file within the virtual drive on the screen.

The split drive cooperation function 13 may write the first split file91 a and the second split file 91 b respectively into the first splitdrive 70 a and the second split drive 70 b in response to the detectionof a file saving request in a first operation mode. The first operationmode can be referred to, for example, as direct mode because a splitfile is directly written into a split drive at the time of file saving.

Meanwhile, in a second operation mode, the split drive cooperationfunction 13 may further wait for the detection of a request forunmounting a virtual drive after the file splitting function 17 splits afile image into the first split file 91 a and the second split file 91 bin response to the detection of a file saving request, and then writethe first split file 91 a into the first split drive 70 a. In the secondoperation mode, the split files may be maintained in a volatile memoryby the virtual drive management function 16 during the interval from thedetection of the file saving request to the detection of the unmountrequest. The second operation mode can be referred to, for example, ascache mode because at least one split file is not written into a splitdrive at the time of file saving but is cached in a memory. Theoperation mode of the system may be fixedly preconfigured depending onthe needs of a user, or may be dynamically switchable between two ormore modes.

The virtual drive management function 16 may cause, when one or morefiles are present within a virtual drive, the UI module 45 to displayindications related to those files on the screen automatically after thevirtual drive is generated or after the virtual drive is opened via thefile system 40. The file meta-data needed to generate an indicationrelated to a file is recovered from the first split file meta-data 90 aand the second split file meta-data 90 b. The split drive cooperationfunction 13 reads out the first split file meta-data 90 a and the secondsplit file meta-data 90 b respectively from the first split drive 70 aand the second split drive 70 b. The file recovery function 18 causesthe secret splitting module 30 to recover the file meta-data at leastfrom the first split file meta-data 90 a and the second split filemeta-data 90 b thereby enabling an indication related to the file withinthe virtual drive to be displayed. An indication related to a filecorresponds, for example, to each item in a list of files within adrive, and can include a file name, a file size, an icon, an updatedate, and the like.

Furthermore, when a user input is made toward an indication related tothe displayed file (e.g. the file name or the icon is double-clicked ortapped) to request activation of the file within the virtual drive, thefile recovery function 18 reads out at least the first split file 91 aand the second split file 91 b out of a plurality of split files splitfrom the file image of the file respectively from the first split drive70 a and the second split drive 70 b through the split drive cooperationfunction 13. The file recovery function 18 then causes the secretsplitting module 30 to recover the file image of the file to beactivated at least from the first split file 91 a to the second splitfile 91 b. Alternatively, the file recovery function 18 may recover afile image of a specific file within a virtual drive without waiting fora request for activating the file.

The control module 10 may ask a user to input a password at any timingof the various operations as described above. For example, when theconnection of the external storage device 400 is detected, the controlmodule 10 may ask a user to input a password before reading out splitmeta-data from the corresponding split drive, and may read out the splitmeta-data only if the password is successfully authenticated.

The secret splitting module 30 includes an encryption function 31, asplitting function 32, a combination function 33, and a decryptionfunction 34. The encryption function 31 encrypts designated data (suchas virtual drive meta-data, file meta-data, or a file image), forexample, by the AONT scheme under the control of the control module 10.The splitting function 32 splits the data encrypted (AONT-transformed)by the encryption function 31 into a designated number of pieces ofsplit data each of which has a designated size. The combination function33 combines at least two pieces of split data out of the plurality ofpieces of split data that have been formed using secret splitting fromdata to be recovered, and generates combined data. The decryptionfunction 34 recovers the secret data by decrypting the combined databased on the at least two pieces of split data by the AONT scheme toobtain the original data.

As an example, the secret splitting module 30 performs these operationsof encryption, splitting, combination, and description per block basis.The block size desirably matches with the size of the allocation unit ofthe file system 40 (e.g. 4096 bytes in NTFS). When the processing unitof the secret splitting processing has a large size, processing timeincreases exponentially rather than linearly to the data size of data tobe split. Meanwhile, if the secret splitting processing is executed inas small processing units as the allocation size of the file system,increase in the processing time due to increase in data size can besuppressed to substantially linear increase.

The file system 40 is a system module of the operating system operatingon the information processing device 100 for managing files. Any type offile system such as NTFS, FAT, or FAT32 may be used. The configurationthat the file system intervenes between various applications on theinformation processing device 100, and the control module 10 and thesecret splitting module 30 eliminates the necessity for theseapplications to recognize the presence of the control module 10 and thesecret splitting module 30. The above-described operation of secretsplitting according to the size of the allocation unit of the filesystem 40 and the above-described configuration that the file system 40intervenes allow the secret information management system 1 to smoothlyoperate on many platforms, on which various applications and operatingsystems may be executed, without requiring any individual functionalmodifications.

The file system 40 or the operating system operating on the informationprocessing device 100 receives registration of settings of a virtualdrive from the control module 10. Once a virtual drive is registered,the virtual drive is handled similarly to another physical or logicaldisk drive from the perspective of a user or an application. In otherwords, a user can conduct various kinds of work such as updating a file,moving a file, copying a file, changing a file name, creating a folder(directory), and setting an attribute of a folder within a virtual drivewithout paying attention to differences from an actual drive.

The UI module 45 provides a user interface for the control module 10 andthe file system 40 to interact with a user. For example, the UI module45 displays a GUI on the screen of the display 103, and receives a userinput via the input interface 104. The UI module 45 may also provide anonvisual user interface such as a speech UI or a gesture UI.

3. FLOWS OF PROCESSES

Next, flows of operations in the secret information management system 1will be described in detail.

(1) Virtual Drive Generation

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of virtual drivegeneration processing for newly generating a virtual drive.

First of all, in step S1, the control module 10 acquires the settingdata of a virtual drive to be generated, and creates virtual drivemeta-data. The virtual drive meta-data created here can include, forexample, a drive name and capacity of the new virtual drive.

Next, in step S2, the control module 10 causes the secret splittingmodule 30 to encrypt the created virtual drive meta-data. In step S3,the control module 10 causes the secret splitting module 30 to split theencrypted virtual drive meta-data into the first split meta-data 80 aand the second split meta-data 80 b.

In step S4, the control module 10 creates the first split drive 70 a inthe external storage device 400. In step S5, the control module 10creates the second split drive 70 b in the second storage device 105.Note that neither data nor files have been written into the first orsecond split drive 70 a or 70 b until this step. Needless to say, stepS4 is performed with the external storage device 400 connected to theinformation processing device 100 via the connection interface 106.

Next, in step S6, in order to associate the created first and secondsplit drives 70 a and 70 b with each other, the control module 10 writesthe first split drive identifier 71 a and the second split driveidentifier 71 b respectively into the first split drive 70 a and thesecond split drive 70 b. In addition, the control module 10 writes thebasic configuration information 75 into the predefined storage area ofthe external storage device 400. The basic configuration information 75includes, for example, the split drive path of the first split drive 70a within the external storage device 400, and the split drive path ofthe second split drive 70 b within the secondary storage device 105.This allows the control module 10 to access each split drive later, andverify the correspondence between the split drives by collating thesplit drive identifiers and collating other meta-data.

Next, in step S7, the control module 10 writes the first split meta-data80 a into the first split drive 70 a. Next, in step S8, the controlmodule 10 writes the second split meta-data 80 b into the second splitdrive 70 b.

Next, in step S9, the control module 10 generates a new virtual drivecorresponding to the first and second split drives 70 a and 70 b. Morespecifically, the control module 10 may generate the virtual drive, forexample, by registering the setting data included in the virtual drivemeta-data onto the file system 40. The control module 10 may use thevirtual drive meta-data created or acquired in step S1. Alternatively,the control module 10 may cause the secret splitting module 30 torecover the virtual drive meta-data from the first split meta-data 80 aand the second split meta-data 80 b respectively written into the firstsplit drive 70 a and the second split drive 70 b.

Finally, in step S10, the newly generated virtual drive is displayed onthe screen of the display 103. It should be noted that the controlmodule 10 may display a message notifying a user that the virtual driveis generated, instead of displaying the virtual drive itself (e.g. iconof the virtual drive), on the screen of the display 103.

The virtual drive generation processing illustrated in FIG. 5 thenfinishes.

(2) File Splitting

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of filesplitting processing for splitting a file using secret splitting.

In step S11, the control module 10 detects a file saving request of afile within a virtual drive. As an example, saving a file within avirtual drive may be triggered by moving a file stored by a drive (suchas an actual drive) other than the virtual drive into the virtual drive.As another example, saving a file within a virtual drive may betriggered by overwriting, after a file already present within thevirtual drive is updated, the file within the virtual drive. The filesaving request can be detected, for example, from an application (suchas a document editing application for a document file) associated withthe file to be saved or an operating system via the file system 40.

Once the above-mentioned file saving request is detected, the controlmodule 10 stores, in step S12, the file image of the file to be saved inthe storage area for the virtual drive within the main memory 102. Thefile image is written into corresponding memory addresses of the mainmemory 102, for example, per block basis. The block size may be, forexample, 4096 bytes per a block.

Next, in step S13, the control module 10 causes the secret splittingmodule to encrypt the file image of the file to be saved within thevirtual drive. The file image is encrypted per block basis, for example,for each block of the file image stored in the main memory 102.

Next, in step S14, the control module 10 causes the secret splittingmodule to split the encrypted file image into the first and second splitfiles 91 a and 91 b. The encrypted file image may also be split perblock basis. For example, when the file image has three blocks, each ofthose three blocks may be split, for example, into the first split file91 a having 4 bytes, and the second split file 91 b having 4092 bytes.

In addition, the control module 10 causes the secret splitting module 30to encrypt the file meta-data of the file to be saved, and to split thefile meta-data into the first split file meta-data 90 a and the secondsplit file meta-data 90 b. Note that the file meta-data may also beencrypted and split per block basis.

Next, in step S15, the control module 10 writes the first split file 91a and the first split file meta-data 90 a into the first split drive 70a. Next, in step S16, the control module 10 writes the second split file91 b and the second split file meta-data 90 b into the second splitdrive 70 b. The first split file 91 a is written into the file data areaof the first split drive 70 a, and the second split file 91 b is writteninto the file data area of the second split drive 70 b. The first splitfile meta-data 90 a is written into the file meta-data area of the firstsplit drive 70 a, and the second split file meta-data 90 b is writteninto the file meta-data area of the second split drive 70 b.

Needless to say, step S15 is performed with the external storage device400 connected to the information processing device 100 via theconnection interface 106. Afterwards, once a request for unmounting thevirtual drive is detected in step S17, the control module 10 disablesthe virtual drive in step S18. For example, this causes the displayedvirtual drive to disappear from the screen. Furthermore, the externalstorage device 400 may be disconnected from the information processingdevice 100. Even when the request for unmounting the virtual drive isnot input or detected, but the external storage device 400 is suddenlydisconnected (e.g. when a USB memory is pulled out), the control module10 may disable the virtual drive and cause the displayed virtual driveto disappear from the screen in response to detecting the disconnection.

The file splitting processing illustrated in FIG. 6 then finishes.

(3) Virtual Drive Recovery

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of virtual driverecovery processing for recovering a virtual drive. FIG. 8 illustratesan example of the schematic data configuration of a recovered virtualdrive.

First of all, in step S21, the control module 10 detects connection ofthe external storage device 400 to the information processing device 100via the connection interface 106. In step S22, in response to detectingthe connection, the control module 10 reads out the basic configurationinformation 75 stored by the external storage device 400, and accessesthe first split drive 70 a of the external storage device 400. In stepS23, the control module 10 accesses the second split drive 70 b of thesecondary storage device 105. The control module 10 may read out datasets within these split drives and load the data sets onto the mainmemory 102 at this time. The data set of the first split drive 70 aincludes the first split drive identifier 71 a, and the data set of thesecond split drive 70 b includes the second split drive identifier 71 b.

Next, in step S24, the control module 10 verifies the correspondencebetween the first and second split drives 70 a and 70 b. For example,the control module 10 may determine whether or not the first split driveidentifier 71 a and the second split drive identifier 71 b include acertain common character string, and exactly have expected suffixnumbers. The control module 10 may also determine whether or not timestamps such as creation dates and time, or update dates and time matchwith each other.

If it is determined in step S25 that the correspondence between the twosplit drives is normal, the virtual drive recovery processing proceedsto step S27. If it is determined that the correspondence between the twosplit drives is not normal, the virtual drive recovery processing may becanceled. When the virtual drive recovery processing is canceled, thecontrol module 10 may output, via the UI module 45, an error messagenotifying a user that the generation of a virtual drive results infailure. Instead, it is also possible for the control module 10 tooutput no message in order to conceal the presence of secret data from amalicious third person.

In step S27, the control module 10 reads out the first split meta-data80 a from the first split drive 70 a (or from the main memory 102 whenthe first split meta-data 80 a has already been loaded onto the mainmemory 102). In step S28, the control module 10 reads out the secondsplit meta-data 80 b from the second split drive 70 b (or from the mainmemory 102 when the second split meta-data 80 b has already been loadedonto the main memory 102).

Next, in step S29, the control module 10 causes the secret splittingmodule to combine the read-out first split meta-data 80 a and theread-out second split meta-data 80 b. In step S30, the control module 10causes the secret splitting module 30 to decrypt the combined meta-dataof the first split meta-data 80 a and the second split meta-data 80 b toobtain the virtual drive meta-data.

Next, in step S31, the control module 10 generates a virtual drive 81based on virtual drive meta-data 80 recovered through the decryptionusing secret splitting (see FIG. 8).

Finally, in step S32, the virtual drive 81 recovered in this way isdisplayed on the screen of the display 103. It should be noted that thevirtual drive (e.g. icon of the virtual drive) is not necessarilydisplayed and a message notifying a user that the virtual drive isrecovered may be displayed on the screen instead.

After the virtual drive is recovered, the control module 10 may furtherrecover file meta-data 90 from the first split file meta-data 90 a andthe second split file meta-data 90 b. Alternatively, the control module10 may recover the file meta-data 90 from the first split file meta-data90 a and the second split file meta-data 90 b when activation of thevirtual drive is detected via the file system 40. The activation of thevirtual drive can be requested, for example, through a user input (suchas a double-click or a tap) toward the icon of the virtual drivedisplayed on the screen. For example, the control module 10 reads outthe first split file meta-data 90 a and the second split file meta-data90 b respectively from the first split drive 70 a (or the main memory102) and the second split drive 70 b (or the main memory 102). Thecontrol module 10 then causes the secret splitting module 30 to recoverthe file meta-data 90 from the read-out split file meta-data 90 a andthe read-out split file meta-data 90 b.

FIG. 8 illustrates the single piece of file meta-data 90 alone as anexample. However, when a plurality of files are present in the virtualdrive, the control module may cause the secret splitting module 30 torecover the file meta-data 90 of each of the files. For example, onlythe file meta-data of files in a topmost folder in the hierarchicalfolder structure of the virtual drive may be recovered (the filemeta-data of another file can be recovered after the correspondingfolder is opened).

Alternatively, only some pieces of file meta-data of a limited number offiles dependent on the capacity of the virtual drive may be recovered.The recovered file meta-data 90 is handed over to the file system 40.Once the virtual drive is activated, the file system 40 generates anindication (such as an item or an icon in a list of files) related toeach file within the virtual drive, and displays the generatedindication on the screen.

The virtual drive recovery processing illustrated in FIG. 7 thenfinishes.

(4) File Recovery

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of file recoveryprocessing for recovering a file using secret splitting.

First of all, in step S41, the control module 10 detects a fileactivation request of a file within a virtual drive during the state inwhich the virtual drive is active. The activation of the file can berequested, for example, through a user input toward an indicationrelated to the file displayed based on the file meta-data 90.

In step S42, the control module 10 reads out the first split file 91 acorresponding to the file to be activated from the first split drive 70a in response to detecting the file activation request. In step S43, thecontrol module 10 reads out the second split file 91 b corresponding tothe file from the second split drive 70 b.

Next, in step S44, the control module 10 causes the secret splittingmodule to combine the read-out first and second split files 91 a and 91b. In step S45, the control module 10 causes the secret splitting module30 to decrypt the combined file of the first and second split files 91 aand 91 b to obtain the file image of the file to be recovered.

Next, in step S46, the control module 10 hands over the file imagerecovered as a result of the decryption to the file system 40, andcauses the file as desired by the user to be activated, for example,through an application associated with the file.

The file recovery processing illustrated in FIG. 9 then finishes.

4. CONCLUSION

According to the above-described embodiment, there is provided acomputer program which, when executed by a processor of an informationprocessing device, causes the processor to function as a secretsplitting module and a control module. The information processing deviceincludes a connection interface configured to be connected to a firststorage device that is an external storage device, the processor, and avolatile memory. The secret splitting module is configured to recoversecret data by combining at least two pieces of split data out of aplurality of pieces of split data. The control module is configured tocontrol reading out and/or writing each piece of the plurality pieces ofsplit data from and/or into the data area of the corresponding storagedevice. The secret data is maintained within a virtual drive, and thevirtual drive meta-data for generating the virtual drive is split atleast into two pieces of split meta-data. The control module reads outthe first split meta-data and second split meta-data respectively fromthe first storage device and a second storage device, causes the secretsplitting module to recover the virtual drive meta-data at least fromthe first split meta-data and the second split meta-data, and generatesthe virtual drive based on the recovered virtual drive meta-data.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to protect, by secretsplitting, a virtual drive that provides space for a user to handlesecret data. The secret data within the virtual drive is also protectedby secret splitting, and the above-described configuration thus providesa mechanism of protecting the secret data from the risks of leakage withdouble barriers. If a user creates data in a virtual drive, the data isprotected from the beginning of the creation.

In some examples, the secret data within the virtual drive may bemaintained as a file image stored only in a volatile memory. Thisprevents the secret data from leaking, for example, from the disk of thesecondary storage device even if the information processing device ishacked after the secret data is recovered.

In some examples, the first split meta-data may be read out from thefirst storage device in response to detection of connection of the firststorage device to the information processing device. This ties the lifecycle of the virtual drive from generation to disappearance with actionsof connecting and disconnecting the external storage device, which canbe intuitively grasped by a user. Data or files within the virtual drivecan be accessed by a user only while the virtual drive is present on theinformation processing device. A user can thus manage data appropriatelyand secretly only by paying attention to the connection state of theexternal storage device. As long as works such as creating, viewing, andupdating data are conducted within the virtual drive, such works can beconducted in the same way as works usually done on a typical informationprocessing device for normal data (data which does not need to beprotected).

In some examples, when a request for unmounting the virtual drive isdetected, or disconnection of the first storage device is detected, thevirtual drive may be disabled. In other words, a user can deny access tothe virtual drive and ensure that the secret data is protected, forexample, using an explicit unmount request at the time of finishing orstopping work. A user can also deny access to the virtual drive andensure that the secret data is protected through an intuitive action ofdisconnecting the external storage device. Disabling the virtual drivemay include erasing data within the virtual drive which is maintained onthe memory. Alternatively, data within the virtual drive may be erasedat some time point later than when the virtual drive is disabled.

In some examples, the virtual drive may be generated by registeringsettings of the virtual drive onto the file system of the informationprocessing device. The virtual drive may be disabled by erasing thesettings of the virtual drive from the file system. In this way,realizing the virtual drive using functionality of existing file systemand allowing the file system to intervene between applications and thesecret splitting technology make it possible to provide a smoothoperation of a system without making any impact on a variety of existingapplications and future applications to be developed.

In some examples, when activation of a file within the virtual drive isrequested, the control module may read out at least two split files outof a plurality of split files, which have been formed by splitting afile image of the file using secret splitting, from the correspondingstorage devices, and cause the secret splitting module to recover thefile image of the file to be activated from the at least two splitfiles. This means that a file image of a file within the virtual driveis not recovered until the activation of the file is requested, and afile image of a file that is not activated is not recovered. Accordingto such a configuration, waiting time for processing is reduced becausethere is no need to recover a large-sized data set at one time. Sincethe virtual drive will maintain only file images of the fewest neededfiles, the security level is enhanced as compared with a technology ofcollectively encrypting (splitting)/decrypting (combining) all the datawithin a drive.

In some examples, file meta-data of a file within the virtual drive maybe split into a plurality of pieces of split file meta-data, and thecontrol module may read out at least two pieces of split file meta-datafrom the corresponding storage devices, and cause the secret splittingmodule to recover the file meta-data at least from those two pieces ofsplit file meta-data thereby enabling an indication related to the filewithin the virtual drive to be displayed. According to such aconfiguration, it is possible to protect secret data with triplebarriers of three layers including a virtual drive, file meta-dataneeded to access a file within the virtual drive, and a file. Forexample, a configuration may be adopted where the activation of the filewithin the virtual drive is requested through a user input toward theindication related to the file displayed based on the file meta-data tobe recovered. In this case, a chain of secret splitting processes isconstructed in which the file meta-data of a predetermined file has tobe recovered to recover the file, and the virtual drive meta-data has tobe recovered to access the file meta-data. Accordingly, the securitylevel can be further enhanced. The meta-data and files may be read out(loaded onto the memory) and decrypted within the minimum range inresponse to a user input, or the meta-data and files may be read out(loaded onto the memory) and decrypted under the restrictions of thememory capacity prior to a user input. In the latter case, the waitingtime due to reading out data can be shortened, and the responsiveness ofthe system to a user input can be enhanced.

In some examples, when saving a file within the virtual drive isrequested, the control module may cause the secret splitting module tosplit the file image of the file at least into two split files usingsecret splitting. One of the split files may be written into the firststorage device, and the other one of the split file may be written intothe second storage device. According to such a configuration, every timesaving a file within the virtual drive is requested, the file image ofthe file is split to ensure that the file is protected. In an operationmode in which at least those two split files are immediately writteninto the first storage device and the second storage device in responseto detection of the request for file saving, the time length for whichthese split files are present on the same device will be minimizedallowing to realize strong security.

In some examples, the virtual drive may be generated by registering thesettings of the virtual drive onto the file system of the informationprocessing device, and the control module may detect the request forfile saving via the file system. According to such a configuration, itis possible to implement, at low cost, a common program interface forreceiving a file saving request made from a user or an applicationtriggered by various events without requiring any complicated logic.

The present specification has mainly described examples in which virtualdrive meta-data, file meta-data, and a file image are each encrypted anddecrypted. However, the present disclosure is not limited to suchexamples and a part or all of virtual drive meta-data, file meta-data,and a file image may only be split and combined without being encryptedor decrypted. For example, even when virtual drive meta-data is notencrypted or decrypted, it is possible to provide double protection oftwo layers including file meta-data, and a file. Skipping encryption anddecryption can lighten load on the system. Virtual drive meta-data mayonly be encrypted and written into the external storage device withoutbeing split.

The present specification has mainly described examples in which secretdata is split into two pieces of split data using secret splitting.However, as described above, secret data within the virtual drive mayalso be split into any two or more number of pieces of split data. Aslong as there are a plurality of devices into which a plurality ofpieces of split data are written, any of the plurality of pieces ofsplit data may be written into any of the storage devices. For example,as exemplified in FIG. 1C, writing additional split data into a terminaldevice that can be carried by a user (such as an IC card for employee IDwhich is carried by an employee of a corporation) can give the terminaldevice a role as an authentication device for access to secret data. Forexample, a fragment of split meta-data split from virtual drivemeta-data alone may be written into a device having small storagecapacity.

5. MODIFICATIONS (1) File Splitting—First Modification

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a first modification of a flow offile splitting processing for splitting a file using secret splitting.The file splitting processing illustrated in FIG. 6 is an instance ofthe processing in the above-described first operation mode (directmode), while the file splitting processing illustrated in FIG. 10 is aninstance of the processing in the above-described second operation mode(cache mode). Steps S51 to S54 in FIG. 10 may be performed similarly tosteps S11 to S14 in FIG. 6.

In step S51, the control module 10 detects a file saving request of afile within a virtual drive. Once the file saving request is detected,the control module stores, in step S52, a file image of the file to besaved in the storage area for the virtual drive within the main memory102. Next, in step S53, the control module 10 causes the secretsplitting module 30 to encrypt the file image of the file to be savedwithin the virtual drive. Next, in step S54, the control module 10causes the secret splitting module 30 to split the encrypted file imageinto the first and second split files 91 a and 91 b. In addition, thecontrol module 10 causes the secret splitting module 30 to encrypt thefile meta-data of the file to be saved, and to split the file meta-datainto the first split file meta-data 90 a and the second split filemeta-data 90 b.

Next, in step S55, the control module 10 stores the first and secondsplit files 91 a and 91 b, and the first split file meta-data 90 a andthe second split file meta-data 90 b in the main memory 102. These splitfiles and pieces of split meta-data are not written into thecorresponding storage devices at this time.

Afterwards, once a request for unmounting the virtual drive is detectedin step S56, the control module 10 disables the virtual drive in stepS57. For example, this causes the displayed virtual drive to disappearfrom the screen. In step S58, the control module 10 writes the firstsplit file 91 a and the first split file meta-data 90 a into the firstsplit drive 70 a. In step S59, the control module 10 writes the secondsplit file 91 b and the second split file meta-data 90 b into the secondsplit drive 70 b. Needless to say, step S58 is performed with theexternal storage device 400 connected to the information processingdevice 100 via the connection interface 106.

The file splitting processing illustrated in FIG. 10 then finishes.

(2) File Splitting—Second Modification

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a second modification of a flow offile splitting processing for splitting a file using secret splitting.The file splitting processing illustrated in FIG. 11 is an instance ofthe processing in the above-described second operation mode (cachemode). Steps S61 to S64 in FIG. 11 may be performed similarly to stepsS51 to S54 in FIG. 10.

In step S61, the control module 10 detects a file saving request of afile within a virtual drive. Once the file saving request is detected,the control module stores, in step S62, a file image of the file to besaved in the storage area for the virtual drive within the main memory102. Next, in step S63, the control module 10 causes the secretsplitting module 30 to encrypt the file image of the file to be savedwithin the virtual drive. Next, in step S64, the control module 10causes the secret splitting module 30 to split the encrypted file imageinto the first and second split files 91 a and 91 b. In addition, thecontrol module 10 causes the secret splitting module 30 to encrypt thefile meta-data of the file to be saved, and split the file meta-datainto the first split file meta-data 90 a and the second split filemeta-data 90 b.

Next, in step S65, the control module 10 writes the second split file 91b and the second split file meta-data 90 b into the second split drive70 b. In step S66, the control module 10 stores the first split file 91a and the first split file meta-data 90 a in the main memory 102. Thefirst split file 91 a and the first split file meta-data 90 a are notwritten into the external storage device 400 at this time.

Afterwards, once a request for unmounting the virtual drive is detectedin step S67, the control module 10 disables the virtual drive in stepS68. For example, this causes the displayed virtual drive to disappearfrom the screen. Next, in step S69, the control module 10 writes thefirst split file 91 a and the first split file meta-data 90 a into thefirst split drive 70 a. Needless to say, step S69 is performed with theexternal storage device 400 connected to the information processingdevice 100 via the connection interface 106.

The file splitting processing illustrated in FIG. 11 then finishes.

According to the above-described first or second modification, at leastwriting, into the external storage device 400, of a split file and splitfile meta-data will be done not at the timing of file saving, but at thetiming of unmounting the virtual drive. The external storage device 400is hereby accessed less frequently, reducing delay in the processing offile saving. The split file and split file meta-data before written intothe split drive are maintained on the main memory 102 of the informationprocessing device 100. Thus, even when a user suddenly disconnects theexternal storage device 400 from the information processing device 100(without, for example, unmounting the virtual drive), the split file andthe split file meta-data are preserved on the main memory 102, therebypreventing the updated content of the file from being lost against theuser's will. Once the external storage device 400 is reconnected to theinformation processing device 100, the latest split file and split filemeta-data on the main memory 102 can be written into the split drive ofthe external storage device 400 again.

The first and second modifications are more advantageous in the scenarioin which, for example, the external storage device 400 is wirelesslyconnected to the information processing device 100. That is because awireless connection might be relatively frequently interrupted dependingon wireless channel conditions (such as signal strength, noise level,and interference from other devices), but the consistency of split filesis securely maintained without being affected by the wireless channelconditions in the above-described operation mode. Note that it is notpreferable from the perspective of security to maintain a set of splitfiles (such as the first split file 91 a and the second split file 91 b)on the same device for a long time. Accordingly, the control module 10may measure time, for example, using a timer, and, when the elapsed timefrom a disconnection exceeds predefined time period, the control module10 may erase a split file and split file meta-data on the main memory102.

(3) Other Modifications

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there may beprovided a computer program which, when executed by a processor of aninformation processing device, causes the processor to function as: asecret splitting module configured to form a plurality of pieces ofsplit data by splitting secret data using secret splitting; and acontrol module configured to control reading out or writing each pieceof the plurality of pieces of split data from or into a data area of acorresponding storage device, wherein the control module is furtherconfigured to maintain the secret data within a virtual drive, whereinthe control module is further configured to: in response to detecting aconnection of the first storage device to the information processingdevice, read out at least encrypted virtual drive meta-data forgenerating the virtual drive from the first storage device; decrypt thevirtual drive meta-data; generate the virtual drive based on thedecrypted virtual drive meta-data; and when a disconnection of the firststorage device from the information processing device is detected,disable the virtual drive. A file image of a file within the virtualdrive is split by the secret splitting module at least into a firstsplit file and a second split file, wherein the first split file is tobe written into the first storage device, and the second split file isto be written into a second storage device that is different from thefirst storage device. Corresponding secret management method andinformation processing system may also be provided.

According to such a configuration, meta-data for generating a virtualdrive that provides space for a user to handle secret data is protectedat least by encryption. Secret data within the virtual drive isprotected by secret splitting. It is thus possible to protect secretdata from the risks of leakage with double barriers. It is also possibleto tie the life cycle of the virtual drive from generation todisappearance with actions of connecting and disconnecting the externalstorage device, which can be intuitively grasped by a user.

According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, there maybe provided a computer program which, when executed by a processor of aninformation processing device, causes the processor to function as: asecret splitting module configured to form a plurality of pieces ofsplit data by splitting secret data using secret splitting; and acontrol module configured to control writing each piece of the pluralityof pieces of split data into a data area of a corresponding storagedevice, wherein the secret data is maintained within a virtual drive ofthe information processing device, and wherein the control module isfurther configured to: acquire virtual drive meta-data for generatingthe virtual drive; generate the virtual drive by registering a settingof the virtual drive onto a file system of the information processingdevice based on the acquired virtual drive meta-data; detect a filesaving request for saving a file handled within the virtual drive viathe file system; and when the file saving request is detected, cause thesecret splitting module to split a file image of the file to be saved atleast into a first split file and a second split file using secretsplitting. The first split file is to be written into a first storagedevice, the first storage device being an external storage device, andthe second split file is to be written into a second storage device thatis different from the first storage device. Corresponding secretmanagement method and information processing system may also beprovided.

According to such a configuration, a file system intervenes between amechanism of protecting secret data handled on a virtual drive usingsecret splitting, and applications directly operated by a user. Thisallows the virtual drive to receive, through a common program interface,a file saving request made from the user or an application triggered byvarious events, and it is possible to implement the secret splittingtechnology at low cost without requiring any complicated logic. It isalso possible to realize smooth operations of the system without havingany modification impact on the applications.

The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedabove with reference to the accompanying drawings, whilst the presentdisclosure is not limited to the above examples. A person skilled in theart may find various alterations and modifications within the scope ofthe appended claims, and it should be understood that they willnaturally come under the technical scope of the present disclosure.

For example, the processes described herein using flowcharts do notnecessarily have to be performed in the order described in theflowcharts. Some of process steps may be executed in parallel. Anadditional process step may also be adopted, and some of process stepsmay be omitted.

The computer programs described herein are stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium installed inside or outside the informationprocessing device. Each of those programs is, for example, loaded ontothe RAM and executed by the processor when executed. Thecomputer-readable medium may be any type of medium such as a read onlymemory (ROM), a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), anHDD, an SSD, a magneto-optical disk, a magnetic disk, a magnetic tape, acassette tape, a semiconductor memory, or a combination thereof.

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having embodied thereon acomputer program which, when executed by a processor of an informationprocessing device, causes the processor to function as: a secretsplitting module configured to recover secret data by combining at leasttwo pieces of split data out of a plurality of pieces of split data thathave been formed by splitting the secret data using secret splitting;and a control module configured to control reading out or writing eachpiece of the plurality of pieces of split data from or into a data areaof a corresponding storage device, wherein the control module is furtherconfigured to maintain the secret data within a virtual drive, virtualdrive meta-data for generating the virtual drive being split at leastinto first split meta-data and second split meta-data, and wherein thecontrol module is further configured to: read out the first splitmeta-data from a first storage device, the first storage device being anexternal storage device; read out the second split meta-data from asecond storage device that is different from the first storage device;cause the secret splitting module to recover the virtual drive meta-dataat least from the first split meta-data and the second split meta-data;and generate the virtual drive based on the recovered virtual drivemeta-data.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 1, wherein the control module is further configured to maintainthe secret data within the virtual drive as a file image stored only ina volatile memory.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 1, wherein the control module is further configuredto read out the first split meta-data from the first storage device inresponse to detecting a connection of the first storage device to theinformation processing device.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium according to claim 3, wherein the control module is furtherconfigured to disable the virtual drive when a request for unmountingthe virtual drive is detected.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium according to claim 3, wherein the control module is furtherconfigured to disable the virtual drive when a disconnection of thefirst storage device from the information processing device is detected.6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 4,wherein the control module is further configured to: generate thevirtual drive by registering a setting of the virtual drive onto a filesystem of the information processing device; and disable the virtualdrive by erasing the setting of the virtual drive that was registeredonto the file system.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 2, wherein the control module is further configuredto: when activation of a file within the virtual drive is requested,read out at least a first split file and a second split file out of aplurality of split files respectively from the first storage device andthe second storage device wherein the plurality of split files have beenformed by splitting a file image of the file to be activated usingsecret splitting; and cause the secret splitting module to recover thefile image of the file to be activated at least from the first splitfile and the second split file.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium according to claim 7, wherein file meta-data of a file within thevirtual drive is split at least into first split file meta-data andsecond split file meta-data, wherein the control module is furtherconfigured to: read out the first split file meta-data from the firststorage device; read out the second split file meta-data from the secondstorage device; and cause the secret splitting module to recover thefile meta-data at least from the first split file meta-data and thesecond split file meta-data thereby enabling an indication related tothe file within the virtual drive to be displayed.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 2, wherein the controlmodule is further configured to, when saving a file within the virtualdrive is requested, cause the secret splitting module to split a fileimage of the file to be saved at least into a third split file and afourth split file using secret splitting, wherein the third split fileis to be written into the first storage device and the fourth split fileis to be written into the second storage device.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 9, wherein the controlmodule is further configured to, in response to detection of the requestfor file saving, write the third split file into the first storagedevice and write the fourth split file into the second storage device.11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 9,wherein the control module is further configured to: maintain, in thevolatile memory, the third split file formed in response to detection ofthe request for file saving; and in response to detection of a requestfor unmount of the virtual drive, write the third split file into thefirst storage device.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumaccording to claim 9, wherein the virtual drive is generated byregistering a setting of the virtual drive onto a file system of theinformation processing device, wherein the control module is furtherconfigured to detect the request for file saving via the file system.13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 1,wherein the secret splitting module is further configured to: encryptthe secret data by the All or Nothing Transform (AONT) scheme beforesplitting the secret data; and recover the secret data by decryptingcombined data based on the at least two pieces of split data by the AONTscheme to obtain the secret data.
 14. A secret management methodperformed in an information processing device using secret splitting,the secret splitting being capable of forming a plurality of pieces ofsplit data by splitting secret data, and recovering the secret data bycombining at least two pieces of split data out of the plurality ofpieces of split data, the secret management method comprising: readingout first split meta-data from a first storage device, the first storagedevice being an external storage device; reading out second splitmeta-data from a second storage device that is different from the firststorage device, the first split meta-data and the second split meta-databeing data that have been formed by splitting virtual drive meta-datafor generating a virtual drive within which the secret data isconfigured to be maintained; recovering the virtual drive meta-data atleast from the first split meta-data and the second split meta-datausing secret splitting; and generating the virtual drive based on therecovered virtual drive meta-data.
 15. An information processing systemcomprising: a secret splitting module configured to recover secret databy combining at least two pieces of split data out of a plurality ofpieces of split data that have been formed by splitting the secret datausing secret splitting; and a control module configured to controlreading out or writing each piece of the plurality of pieces of splitdata from or into a data area of a corresponding storage device, whereinthe control module is further configured to maintain the secret datawithin a virtual drive, virtual drive meta-data for generating thevirtual drive being split at least into first split meta-data and secondsplit meta-data, and wherein the control module is further configuredto: read out the first split meta-data from a first storage device, thefirst storage device being an external storage device; read out thesecond split meta-data from a second storage device that is differentfrom the first storage device; cause the secret splitting module torecover the virtual drive meta-data at least from the first splitmeta-data and the second split meta-data; and generate the virtual drivebased on the recovered virtual drive meta-data. 16-20. (canceled) 21.The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 1,wherein the control module is further configured to, when the virtualdrive is newly generated: cause the secret splitting module to split thevirtual drive meta-data for generating the virtual drive at least intofirst split meta-data and second split meta-data; write the first splitmeta-data into the first storage device; and write the second splitmeta-data into the second storage device.
 22. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 21, wherein the controlmodule is further configured to: cause the secret splitting module tosplit a file image of a file to be recovered within the virtual drive atleast into a first split file and a second split file; write the firstsplit file into the first storage device; and write the second splitfile into the second storage device.
 23. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 22, wherein the controlmodule is further configured to: cause the secret splitting module tosplit file meta-data of the file to be recovered within the virtualdrive at least into first split file meta-data and second split filemeta-data; write the first split file meta-data into the first storagedevice; and write the second split file meta-data into the secondstorage device, wherein the file meta-data is used for displaying anindication related to the file within the virtual drive.
 24. The secretmanagement method according to claim 14, further comprising, when thevirtual drive is newly generated: splitting the virtual drive meta-datafor generating the virtual drive at least into first split meta-data andsecond split meta-data using secret splitting; writing the first splitmeta-data into the first storage device; and writing the second splitmeta-data into the second storage device.
 25. The information processingsystem according to claim 15, wherein the control module is furtherconfigured to, when the virtual drive is newly generated: cause thesecret splitting module to split the virtual drive meta-data forgenerating the virtual drive at least into first split meta-data andsecond split meta-data; write the first split meta-data into the firststorage device; and write the second split meta-data into the secondstorage device.